Council on Foreign Relations

Award-winning author of The River Runs Black: The Environmental Challenges to China’s Future. Currently writing a new book on China’s rise and its geopolitical and strategic implications.

CFR experts give their take on the cutting-edge issues emerging in Asia today.
Read the Blog Asia Unbound

Chinese domestic and foreign policy; U.S.-China relations; global environmental issues.

Member, Board of Councilors, China-U.S. Center for Sustainable Development; member, Global Agenda Council on the Future of China, World Economic Forum; member, National Committee on U.S.-China Relations; member, Research Council, Institute for International Research at the Hopkins-Nanjing Center for Chinese and American Studies (2000-2002); member, Selection Committee for the Woodrow Wilson Center’s International Scholars Program (1999-2000); Cochair, Woodrow Wilson Center Working Group on China and the Environment (1997-99); member, Selection Committee of MacArthur Foundation Research Writing Competition (1996-98); periodically consults for agencies of the U.S. government; professorial lecturer, SAIS, Johns Hopkins University (1997); Research Fellow, Columbia University (1994); Visiting Assistant Professor of Chinese Foreign Policy, University of Washington (1993-94).

Chinese and Russian (familiar).

Received honorary degree from Vermont Law School (May 2008); The River Runs Black named best social sciences book published on Asia in 2003 or 2004 by the International Convention on Asia Scholars (June 2005); The River Runs Black named one of the Cambridge Top 50 Sustainability Books in 2008; profiled in the National Journal’s special report on people whose ideas will help shape important policy issues after the 2004 presidential elections (May 2004).

The River Runs Black: The Environmental Challenge to China’s Future (Cornell University Press, 2004); China Joins the World: Progress and Prospects (coeditor, Council on Foreign Relations Press, 1999); "The G-2 Mirage," Foreign Affairs (co-author, May/June 2009); Challenges and Opportunities for U.S.-China Cooperation on Climate Change, Testimony before the U.S. Senate Committee on Foreign Relations; The Internationalization of Environmental Protection (coeditor, Cambridge University Press, 1997); “China’s Olympic Nightmare,” Foreign Affairs, (co-author, July/August 2008); China in Africa: Implications for U.S. Policy, Testimony before the U.S. Senate Committe on Foreign Relations' Subcommittee on African Affairs Hearing (June 4, 2008); "Economic Miracle, Environmental Disaster: The Degradation of the Huai River Basin," What Matters (Sterling Publishing, March 2008); "China's Growing Ecological Footprint: Global Threat or Opportunity for Collaboration?" The United States, Russia, and China: Confronting Global Terrorism and Security Challenges in the 21st Century (Praeger Security International, 2008); "China's Real Environmental Challenge," Caijing Magazine (Annual Edition, 2008); "A Regional Security Complex in East Asia: The Reality and the Potential," The Environmental Dimension of Asian Security: Conflict and Cooperation over Energy, Resources, and Pollution (United States Institute of Peace Press, 2007); Inside China (contributing author, National Geographic, 2007); "The Great Leap Backward?" Foreign Affairs (September/October 2007); "Scorched Earth: Will Environmental Risks in China Overwhelm its Opportunities?" Harvard Business Review (2007); "China vs. Earth," The Nation (2007); China's Environmental Challenge, testimony before the U.S. China Economic and Security Review Commission Hearing (February 2, 2006); Environmental NGOs in China: Encouraging Action and Addressing Public Grievances, testimony before the Congressional Executive Commission on China Roundtable (February 7, 2005); "Don't Break the Engagement," Foreign Affairs (May/June 2004); "Interview with Elizabeth Economy: China's Development and the Environment," Harvard Asia Quarterly (Winter 2003); Beginning the Journey: China, the United States, and the WTO, report of the Independent Task Force (codirector, Council on Foreign Relations Press, 2001); "Reforming China," Survival (Autumn 1999); "Painting China Green," Foreign Affairs (March/April 1999); and opeds and book reviews book published in the New York Times, Washington Post, International Herald Tribune, Boston Globe, New York Newsday, and South China Morning Post.

Ph.D., University of Michigan;

A.M., Stanford University;

B.A., Swarthmore College.

Related Links:
CFR Fellow Elizabeth Economy’s The River Runs Black Named Best Social Sciences Book on Asia

Current Research Projects

• U.S.-Asia Update Roundtable Series
• The Rise of China and the Remaking of East Asia
• Hong Kong Forum
• Asia Program

Past Research Projects

• China 2025 Conference
• China Business Series Roundtable
• U.S.-Asia Update Roundtable Series
• Study Group on China and Southeast Asia
• Study Group on China and the Environment
• James J. Shinn U.S.-Asia Roundtable
• Independent Task Force on China, The United States and the WTO
• Study Group on Governance in China
• Conference: From Bicycles to Beepers--the Politics and Economics of Business in Asia
• Asia and the Environment Roundtable
• Study Group on Constructive Engagement with China
• U.S.-China Roundtable